Melb tolls cause anger

The announcement that Melbourne's soon-to-open Eatlink tollway will charge motorcycles has raised cries of anger from several quarters, including veteran motorcycle lobbyist Damien Codognotto, the Motorcycle Riders Association and Honda MPE.

Operators of the tollway have announced that bikes will pay 50% of the rate of cars, though other similar roads in the city do not charge motorcycles at all.

Here is what they had to say.

Codognotto:
Damien Codognotto OAM, independent lobbyist for the motorcycle community in Melbourne said, "This is bad for road safety. The toll will force some riders return to single occupant cars while others will take less safe routes to avoid this unfair toll."

The toll is all the more unfair because there is no viable etag for bikes so it is more complicated and time consuming for riders to pay tolls. "The effect is discriminatory," he said.

Tolls for two-wheelers will force many riders onto less safe streets that they would normally avoid. The problems will spread across Victoria as more roads are tolled and more existing tollways target riders. Councils can expect more cars and more motorcycles and scooters in residential areas. City of Melbourne surveys indicate the number of people commuting to work on powered two-wheelers has doubled.

MRA:
President of the Motorcycle Riders Association (Vic), John Karmouche, issued a challenge to ConnectEast to justify its motorcycle tolls on the EastLink tollway.

He observed that toll roads are designed to counter problems with traffic flow and congestion. "Motorcycles and scooters are part of the solution here - not the problem".

The MRA (Vic) believes that tolling vehicles which can help alleviate traffic flow, congestion and environmental problems is truly counter-productive. Perhaps from the point of view of ConnectEast this means some foregone revenue - however in the longer term encouraging people onto powered two-wheeled vehicles for longer distance travel means a less congested route and happier road users - all to the advantage of the tolling companies when the next big project comes up.

Given the relatively small amount of revenue that the toll-roads will receive from motorcycles and scooters, it is definitely a socially responsible thing to do to encourage their use by leaving motorcycles and scooters as zero-toll vehicles. It is obvious that given the much smaller traffic profile and the virtually zero contribution to wear and tear on the roads, the proposed charge of 50% of car tolls is truly extortionate.

The Motorcycle Riders Association is very interested to know exactly what (if any) work was done to arrive at this figure. We challenge ConnectEast to produce their analysis and reasoning that arrived at a motorcycle toll rate of 50%.

Mr Karmouche concluded that "as always with Australian traffic planning and management, the most efficient and effective means of travel is still the most neglected".

Honda:
With the announcement that motorcycle and scooter riders will have to pay tolls to use EastLink, the new freeway connecting Donvale in Melbourne's north east to Frankston in the south east, Honda says a rapidly growing segment of the commuter market will be discriminated against.

In the lead up to the official opening of what is Victoria's largest road project in recent times, those who commute on two wheels have been marginalised, according to Honda Australia's Managing Director, Stuart Strickland.

"Motorcyclists are a unique user group and making them pay a toll on major commuting thoroughfares is extremely unfair on a number of fronts."

"Global warming and traffic congestion are just two of the reasons why responsible authorities encourage the safe use of environmentally friendly transport, yet slapping a toll on riders is a complete contradiction of this philosophy," Mr Strickland noted.

"Governments should be encouraging forms of transport that leave the lowest footprint on the environment possible. What easier way than to exempt riders from having to pay road tolls?"

"With the escalating price of fuel making it impossible for some families to own more than one car, there need to be incentives in place to encourage alternative forms of transport, not discourage them."

The toll for riders will be about half that for a car in spite of the fact that bikes take less than half the road space of a car. Powered two-wheelers also cause far less wear and tear on the road.

Around 40% of Melburnians live in the corridor in which EasLink operates, which includes important retail, commercial and industrial centres. Further, City of Melbourne surveys indicate the number of people commuting to work on powered two-wheelers has doubled in recent times.

"We believe instituting the toll will force some riders to return to single occupant cars adding to the greenhouse effect, not lessening it." Mr Strickland added.

"Others may opt for less safe routes to avoid paying the toll, and since freeways are significantly safer for riders, this could ultimately lead to an increased road toll."

"Motorcycles and scooters help traffic flow as they take up less space than cars on the road. Isn't this what we want to see for our city as congestion spirals out of control?"

"ConnectEast (EastLink's operator) could make a significant contribution to the community and the environment by allowing powered two-wheelers to use the new freeway toll free."

"A significant proportion of motorcycle and scooter users also have a car in the family which means they would appreciate the gesture, and be less inclined to avoid the tollway as do residents of Sydney with the Lane Cove extension!"

"This whole push against promoting alternative modes of transport by our current Government and private business is not only illogical, it is completely discriminatory," he added.

Motorcyclists and interested road users are encouraged to submit their point of view to ConnectEast as well as the Victorian Motorcycle Advisory Council at VicRoads.